Drew Dowdell

uh, the b-class is 168" long... roughly 14 inches longer than the Aveo (154") and 8 inches longer than the Fit (160")... the B-class is about Honda Fit size (169") or Audi A3 size... This may blow your mind, but... the A3 comes with: automatic self leveling integrated LED daytime running lights. Rain Sensing Windshield Wipers automatic light switch and coming home and leaving home functionalities but I'm sure Mercedes will find some Cadillac technology to rip off.... who knows... maybe they can make that multi-contour seat swivel out for the driver like Oldsmobile did back in the 70s.

with regard to point 3: Adding 2 cylinders to the HF series was what the UV8 was supposed to be. I'd imagine that casting a new block is more expensive than putting new heads (of a different valve train) on an existing block. Also that having two blocks (HF + SB) is less expensive than having three (HF + SB + UV8). The 3.4DOHC (which will inevitably be brought up) suffered reliability problems not because it was converted from a pushrod block, but because GM cheaped out on some of the components (brittle plastic timing belt idler pulleys? really?) and very poor location of the alternator. Designing a block from the start to use either valve train configuration allows the engineers to consider the differences needed and account for them in the design.

This.... is an ex-parrot!

So wait.... Mercedes is innovating because they're using technology available in my mother's 2001 Aurora (rainsense wipers), 2002 STS (multi contour seats), 2003 Town Car (reverse parking sensors), Headlights that turn (1948 Tucker Torpedo, 2006 Buick Enclave)..... next you'll sell me that highbeams that automatically dim (1952 Cadillac) are also Mercedes innovation.... Why in the world do you think that is going to be the last engine offered in the Cruze? The Cobalt SS (turbo) didn't come out till it the base Cobalt was on the market for a year or two.

Probably was part of the UV8 project. But still, it was my understanding that the new 5.5 was designed to be able to use pushrods or (D)OHC as the application warranted.

There is a forum for this. Take it there.

Come on SMK, don't return to your disingenuous ways. The RL flopped because it looked like an Accord RL De Lux Brougham.... It had little to do with powertrain.

You can already buy a base Camaro with steelies and just a center cap

unpinned anything that hasn't been posted in since July of this year.

A Civic with Nav and leather can get to $27k also.... Jetta SEL can go all the way to $29k.... and still have 8.5 0-60.... The Elantra an Corolla simply dont come with the options..... and is still using a 4-speed autos in both.

Cash -4- Clunkers was a terrible was a terrible, misguided idea.... however it cannot be blamed for the run up in used car prices... the vast majority of people these days are being much more careful with their money.... even at a 35% increase in pre-owned price, a used Escalade is still less expensive than a brand new one. That guy who lost his 2007 Escalade in the sinkhole a month ago replaced it with a Certified Pre-Owned Escalade rather than buying new. As more people shift from buying new to buying preowned (we're still not back to 2006 level of new car sales yet) demand goes up relative to supply. In addition to that, the average length of time an owner holds on to a new car has nearly doubled from 3 years to 6 years.* That restricts supply. These two factors are making up about 95% of any cost increase used car shoppers are seeing right now. *Source - NPR's Marketplace August 30th 2010

Good that you're still around.... in more ways than one!

What about those of us for which aluminum is new fangled stuff?

something in the glove box? How about in the door pockets if it's got 'em?

I imagine it'll be Buick green ones he's done with it.

You know what I feel about most reviews and reviewers.... Everything is compared to a freaking M3. The Nox and Terrain are no remarkable amount slower than a CR-V or 4-cylinder RAV-4. It's the V6 that usually gets called slow... but that's only in comparison to other V6 models. The non-SS Cruze was never going to be a 5 second car.... but that's OK because the Civic, Corolla, Elantra aren't either. As long as the Cruze scoots around the city and gets people up to 75 mph without getting run over by a tractor trailer, it'll sell decent. You seem to be concentrating waaaaay too much on an aspect of the Cruze that will be an afterthought to most people. You keep saying that GM doesn't have the ability to be mid-pack because of it's history.... well Hyundai didn't have a good history either and the 138hp Elantra did fine.

It's not just the 6-speed... it's the DI + 6-speed that really works. The 4-cylinders with DI have a fair amount of grunt in the low RPM band (for this, it doesn't matter where the peak is, just as long as 95%+ of peak is available at lower RPM) that 4-cylinders from a single engine generation ago couldn't dream of. You can rant about the horsepower peak of the Sonata all you want, but the fact remains that your engine will be living in the sub 3500rpm range most of it's life. And like it or not Reg, your engine is not going to be putting out 200hp at 3000rpm unless it's also putting out 350 ft/lbs of torque at the same time..... no production 4-cylinder is going to do that.... certainly not without some turbo charging help. Even the SHO engine, which can put out 350ft/lbs at 2000 RPM is only putting out a "measly" 133hp...... but I bet (I haven't driven one) that 350ft/lbs @ 2000rpm feels like it's going to rip the car out from under you. Are you beginning to see how irrelevant the HP figure is yet?

You haven't driven it, so you don't know.

Yeah, the one around the corner from me is a Delta. I got to check it out today. If I drive by in the Toronado sometime and see the owner, I'll ask if I can take some pics.

Easy way to tell... Many, if not all of the Replicas have supercharger pipes on both sides. The real ones only have them on the left side. Found out that one of these lives around the corner from me..... same color too:

Really? All of the ones I've seen had the USB connection in them, but I mainly look at CXSes

I"m guessing since even the lower level turbo isn't out yet, it probably didn't have enough power compared to the TL.

It weighs a lot.

Mine are blue

To guys that claim the converse, there is no replacement for displacement.... take that any way you like just where nitrile gloves everywhere.